High Performance Audio - The End?

Do you see the difference I mean to make between imperious pronouncements of that sort, vs sharing our experience and knowledge with our system building?



So an example might be:


I tried X tweak and it expanded the soundstage in my system.


Cool. I might want to try that too. Or not.



Vs



"I've used X tweaks and found benefits, so it's my position "audiophiles OUGHT to use those tweaks" or "audiophiles are really missing out if they haven't tweaked out their system in these methods" or "audiophiles are going to keep chasing their tails unless they do what I'm doing. The equipment and tweaks I use solve audiophile problems."

Bingo!

@jjss49,

"the issue or challenge for us who have our very high end gear is that much of that music is really not made to sound best played on our systems - we are simply not their target audience

mass market vs niche..."


Unfortunately music production is a business driven by the wish to make money and not by any inherent aesthetic wish to produce the best sound quality possible.

If and when we do get exemplary recordings they are likely to be accidental in nature and not by design, nor are they usually to be found in the mainstream.

I have yet to hear any Rolling Stones record used in any show for demonstration purposes. Plenty of jazz, (it’s very often something jazzy), and plenty of well recorded but mostly obscure artists.

So perhaps the level of resolution each of us may find optimal is going to be largely down to our individual musical tastes and the choice of music we like to listen to.

Maybe show systems aren’t for pop.

Audiophiles who are into well recorded piano recitals might benefit from more resolution than those who are fans of the pop music charts.

It’s going to be a question of personal preference, but maybe the next time I go to a show I could take along a copy of Now That’s What I Call Music 105! and demand it be played back on the best systems at the show.

I’m sure that Justin Bieber, Rita Ora and Lady Gaga etc will all elicit a standing ovation from a room full of audiophiles.

Or get me thrown out.


As @prof said,

"As much as some of us like to flatter ourselves as Super Experienced, the wisdom we have built over the years tends to be most relevant to ourselves and our tastes (and perhaps for those that share that taste). It’s not discovering The Secret Key Of Satisfaction for others."


Perhaps that explains why I have currently stuck with my dual concentric Tannoy Berkeley speakers for so long.

Perhaps they might be the near optimal loudspeakers for standard pop music, especially that recorded in the UK between 1960 and 1980.

As for those ultra high resolution systems that can somehow still remain forgiving with poor recordings, well, I’m still looking.

@prof   When the ceiling of your listening room begins to look like this, you'll know you're on the right lines.
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/rebecca-louise-law-hanging-flowers

@douglas_schroeder , I spent 45k on my TADs not too long ago and i’ve heard every kind of speaker in every price range. I know there is a speaker called the Tekton Moab which retails for 4.5k (1/10th the cost of my speakers) that beats the sht out of speakers that are priced around a 100k.

I know the Elac Adante floorstander that i bought on sale for 3k/pair beats the sht out of so many speakers that cost 10 to 20 times more....

You sound like a complete simpleton.

Get the following in your head.

"You can have a cranially challenged creature spend loads and loads of money on R&D for a very long time. He will still come up with a piece of sht.
But, you can give a genius like Andrew Jones or Eric Alexander very little money and he will come up with a genius grade speaker"

Now, repeat after me...."you can.....
repeat those statements 10 times.

Good.

cd318

As for those ultra high resolution systems that can somehow still remain forgiving with poor recordings, well, I’m still looking.

Obviously it’s going to be your own personal call should you find such a system. We can’t know just what you may deem "ultra high resolution" and what you personally will find "forgiving."

But that said, when I think of high resolution and forgiving in the sense of most tracks and genre tends to sound great, I think of the Joseph Audio speakers, which have just that reputation among many listeners, myself included. They manage to combine both a modern "wow" level of clarity and detail, but delivered with such grain-free purity in the highs that it allows the ears to relax. And they combine that clarity with a richness, warmth and low end punch that makes them really satisfying across all sorts of musical genres. IMO.

I use the JA Perspectives but also some other speakers (including Thiel 2.7s). I personally find my system allows almost all tracks to sound satisfying. Of course the character of the different recordings varies quite a lot, but I almost never feel disappointed. The system manages to extract a sense of liveliness and beauty out of most recordings. (And I listen to tons of modern music too, including modern pop, EDM, electronica, the occasional country, whatever...)

It sounds, though, like you are mostly satisfied with your Tannoys?